[Epidemiology and therapy of osteoarthritis in children].

Objectives: Establish the frequency of osteoarthritis in our service an establish an adequate therapeutic protocol.
Patients and Methods: It is about a retro and prospective study realised from January 2001 till January 2004 on all the 0 to 15 years old children treated and followed in the service for osteoarthritis. Ten patients having no complete file or having disappeared during the study were excluded.
Result: 41 cases of osteoarthritis brought together in 26 boys and 15 girls. It occupied 0.8% of the hospitalization and 1.14% of the surgical activities. The average age of our patients was of 4.58 years+/-4.41 with extremes going from 0 to 15 years old. The noted facilitating factor was sickle cell disease (70.7%). The hip was the most affected articulation (48.8%). The staphylococcus was the most met germ (48.8%).
Conclusion: A meticulous examination of a child presenting an articular pain and its management within a better time are necessary to avoid the frequent invalidating sequel in our country.